


Apastron

by WerewolvesAreReal



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Angst, Gol - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 12:18:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3529115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WerewolvesAreReal/pseuds/WerewolvesAreReal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kirk reflects on Spock's decision to leave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Apastron

_“I love you,” he said._

“You want another?”

Kirk gives the bartender a blank look. There's a pause. Grunting, the Tellarite pushes a double-shot in front of him, and leaves without another word.

_“More than anything. Anyone. God, you know – you must know...”_

_“Yes,” Spock said. “But I do not know why you've found it necessary, now, to speak of it.”_

“Hey,” says a Risan, bumping into him, giggling. “You're that starship captain, right? Kim, Kevin, Karl...”

Kirk twists around in his chair.

“...Never mind,” she mumbles, and disappears behind a crowd of friends.

_“So... you don't...”_

_“Jim. Surely you must know – if I returned nothing of your sentiments, they would not be a problem.”_

“Yeah!” A man at the end of the bar raises his fist into the air. “This is the best night of my life!”

Kirk clenches a fist around his glass.

_“Spock...”_

_“Jim. I can't.”_

“They say that alcohol helps you forget all the troubles of the world,” says a man on Kirk's left.

Kirk tilts his head, and examines the amber liquid glinting back from his glass. “Really?” he asks. “Because they lied to you, then.”

_“You've never said...”_

_“This complicates matters.”_

_“Why. Tell me why. Please.”_

_“Because it is harder, to have the option; and I am not that strong.”_

Kirk drops a few credits on the table. The bartender seems relieved.

_“You've never seemed weak to me.”_

_“Perhaps that is the problem.”_

Kirk slips on his jacket, covering the telling Starfleet insignia on his shirt. Lowering his head, he moves outside.

There's a fight going on, and he observes for a moment. Two Andorians and a Tellarite are all-out brawling. Blue and red blood sluices onto the pavement, frothing purple in the mud. People laugh drunkenly from the windows.

Kirk watches for a moment. Fingers the spots on his sleeves where his captain's stripes should be.

Then he turns and walks away.

_“I have to leave.”_

_“Leave?!”_

_“I cannot stay... Jim. I am sorry.”_

Kirk turns on the computer screen as soon as he arrives back on the Enterprise. Nogura seems surprised to receive his call.

“Something you want, Jim?”

“Yes.”

_“I'll always -”_

_“I know.”_

“I want to accept the promotion. On Earth.”

_“Will I see you again?”_

_“No. Never again -_

_"It is for the best."_


End file.
